The Ivorian authorities say at least 10 people have died following heavy rains and landslides that pummeled the country’s commercial capital Abidjan over the weekend.

The count was a provisional toll as of Friday, according to the military’s firefighting brigade GSPM.

Anicet Bah, GSPM captain and deputy head of operations, told newsmen that the toll included 10 deaths, nine in Yopougon and one in Cocody-Angre,” two districts of Abidjan, the country’s largest city and economic hub,

He added that in the industrial zone Yopougon, the first landslide struck around 3:00 am on Thursday, causing four deaths and one injury

The firefighters were told another three victims had been washed away, but Bah said the operation to find them had been called off after a search that was “in vain”.

Cote d’Ivoire experiences yearly heavy rainfall in June and July, but dangerous construction has led to more flood-prone areas, particularly in poorer neighbourhoods of the swelling West African metropolis, which is home to an estimated 5.6 million people.

In mid-June, a family of five — a couple and their three children — died in a landslide in Yopougon.